Section A: Banked Cloze

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Some music inspires you to move your feet, some inspires you to get out there and change the world. In any case, it’s (26) ______ to say that music moves people in special ways.

If you're especially into a piece of music, your brain does something called Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), which (27) ______ to you like a sting in your brain.

It turns out that ASMR is pretty special. According to a (28) ______ published study in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, the part of your brain responsible for ASMR doesn’t get lost to Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s (29) ______ to put people into layers of confusion, and the study confirms that music can sometimes (30) ______ lift people out of the Alzheimer’s haze and bring them back to normality... if only for a short while. ASMR is powerful stuff!

This phenomenon has been (31) ______ several times but rarely studied properly. One of the most famous examples of this is the story of 92-year-old Henry Dryer, who comes out of dementia while listening to songs from his youth.

Jeff Anderson, associate professor and (32) ______ author on the study, says “In our society, the diagnoses of dementia are (33) ______ resources to the maximum. No one says playing music will be a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but it might make the symptoms more (34) ______, decrease the cost of care and improve a patient’s (35) ______ of life.”

Word Bank

A) actually

B) consequently

C) contributing

D) fair

E) feels

F) manageable

G) mends

H) observed

I) phase

J) plotting

K) quality

L) recently

M) taxing

N) tends

O) yielded

Answers & Explanations

26. D (fair)。解析：位于 `it's ______ to say` 结构中，作表语，需要填入形容词。固定搭配 `It is fair to say that...` 意为“可以合理地说/公平地说”。

27. E (feels)。解析：在 `which` 引导的定语从句中缺少谓语动词，先行词是 ASMR（单数），需要填入单数第三人称动词。意为“这让你‘感觉 (feels)’像大脑里的刺痛”。

28. L (recently)。解析：位于不定冠词 a 和过去分词 published（作定语）之间，需要填入副词修饰 published。意为一篇“最近 (recently)”发表的研究。

29. N (tends)。解析：主语是 Alzheimer's，缺少谓语动词，且后接动词不定式 `to put`。固定搭配 `tend to do` 意为“倾向于/往往会”。阿尔茨海默症“往往会 (tends)”使人们陷入层层困惑中。

30. A (actually)。解析：位于情态动词 can sometimes 和动词原形 lift 之间，需要填入副词修饰动作。强调音乐“实际上/确实 (actually)”能把人们拉出阿尔茨海默症的阴霾。

31. H (observed)。解析：位于 `has been` 之后，且与后面的 `studied properly`（被适当研究）并列，需要填入过去分词构成被动语态。这种现象已经被“观察到 (observed)”好几次了。

32. C (contributing)。解析：位于名词 author 之前，需要填入形容词或现在分词作定语修饰。固定搭配 `contributing author` 指“特约作者/参与撰稿的作者”。

33. M (taxing)。解析：位于系动词 are 之后，宾语 resources 之前，需要填入现在分词构成进行时。痴呆症的诊断正在“耗费/使...负担沉重 (taxing)”资源至极限。

34. F (manageable)。解析：位于 `make the symptoms more ______` 结构中，作宾语补足语，需要填入形容词。虽然不能治愈，但它可能使症状更加“可控的/易处理的 (manageable)”。

35. K (quality)。解析：位于 `a patient's ______ of life` 结构中，需要填入名词。固定搭配 `quality of life` 意为“生活质量 (quality)”。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• get out there：走出去，行动起来（inspires you to get out there）
• in any case：无论如何，不管怎样（In any case, it's fair to say that...）
• be responsible for：对...负责，是...的原因（the part of your brain responsible for ASMR）
• get lost to：迷失于，因...而丧失（doesn't get lost to Alzheimer's）
• tend to do：倾向于做...，往往会（Alzheimer's tends to put people into layers of confusion）
• lift sb. out of：把某人从...中拉出来/拯救出来（lift people out of the Alzheimer's haze）
• come out of：从...中出来，摆脱（comes out of dementia）

【亮点句型解析】

• If only 引导的省略句 (哪怕只是...)：
  "...bring them back to normality... if only for a short while."
  （...带他们回到常态...哪怕只有很短的一段时间。）`if only` 在这里表示退一步的条件或假设，相当于 `even if it is only for a short while`，非常简洁地表达了音乐虽然不能彻底治愈，但哪怕带来片刻清醒也是极其宝贵的。
• Which 引导的非限制性定语从句 (含插入语)：
  "If you're especially into a piece of music, your brain does something called Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), which feels to you like a sting in your brain."
  （如果你特别喜欢一首音乐，你的大脑会产生一种叫做“自主感觉经络反应”（ASMR）的现象，这让你感觉像是大脑里的一阵刺痛。）`which` 引导定语从句对专有名词 ASMR 进行补充解释，将复杂的学术概念用具象的感受（sting）表达出来，是英语科普文章中常用的手法。